Entertainment

21 striking photos of ballerinas, what dreams are made of

Oct. 1 is World Ballet Day — a day to celebrate some of the most skilled and graceful dancers on the planet.

On Thursday five of the world’s leading ballet companies are livestreaming behind-the-scenes in the studios, on tour and during performances. The streaming provides viewers an inside look at professional ballet companies around the world.

Ballerina

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Ballerinas perform during a Giselle dress rehearsal before the first official show on May 6, 2015 in Johannesburg, as the St. Petersburg Ballet Theater kicks off the South African leg of the global season.

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Dancers perform Las Silfides, choreographed by Alicia Alonso, Cuba's prima ballerina and director of the National Ballet of Cuba, during a special presentation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and China at the Havana's Great Theater, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 10, 2010.

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Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova dancing on June 4, 1921.

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Image: Ken Scicluna/Getty Images

Kazakh prima ballerina Tanykpayeva Aliya performs on stage of the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest on April 21, 2015 during their rehearsal of Swan Lake by Piotr Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Dutch Rudi van Dantzig and Toer van Schayk.

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